Understanding what places you at higher risk for developing Alzheimer’s is the first step toward prevention
Know Your Alzheimer’s Risks
Your Top-Six Risks for Developing Alzheimer’s
(based on present data)
RISK #1: AGE
Fact: as you age, the “tight junctions” that make up the protective blood brain barrier loosen, allowing larger and larger foreign material such as virus, bacteria and fungus to gain access to the “privileged” brain. And as we age, the cells in our body also become less and less productive and protective. Immune cells in specific, that would normally sequester an infection before it has opportunity to head to the brain, are not as effective as they once were. As you can see, these two symptoms of aging place the brain at higher and higher risk for disease.
RISK #2: PERIODONTAL DISEASE
If we described Periodontal Disease, you’d think we were describing Alzheimer’s. Periodontal Disease (PD) is painless and often goes undetected until damage has already occurred. PD is a disease of inflammation. This disease produces something called “plaque” which is a sticky, destructive biofilm that acts to protect the bacteria from removal. PD is considered an age-related disease and increases in incidence the older you are. Periodontal Disease is increasing in incidence worldwide.
RISK #3: GENDER
The odds are not favorable for women when it comes to contracting Alzheimer’s Disease. Women contract AD earlier in their lifespan, and unquestionably much more frequently (try two times more) than their male counterparts. Interestingly, not until the 8th decade (your eighties) does the rates of AD balance out between the different sexes, at which times your odds of getting AD at this point in your lifespan becomes identical for both men and women. What’s the difference? Menapause and the sudden drop in Estrogen…
RISK #4: AUTOIMMUNITY
People with one autoimmune disease (like Diabetes, Hoshimotos Thyroiditis, Sjogren’s Syndrome, RA) are 25% more likely to develop another. Researcher believe this could be due to a faulty immune system setting that occurs to some of us and not others. When you consider that those struggling with an autoimmunity have a nearly 10% increased risk for Alzheimer’s Dementia and a 28% higher risk for developing Vascular Dementia, it’s no wonder researchers are actively investigating the theorize that AD may be an autoimmune response within the brain itself. The data is compelling, and will be incorporated in the research we are funding.
RISK #5: GENETICS
77% of late onset Alzheimer’s Disease (those cases that are diagnosed after age 65) do not have a family connection. This argues against genetics playing a pivotal role. What does place a spotlight on our DNA influencing the development of this disease is the finding that individuals that have two copies of the APOE-4 gene have a 60% chance of contracting AD by the age of 85. The operative point that explains these seemingly contrary findings is that the human species is evolving away from this gene gene variant as our environment becomes cleaner. Where 10,000 years ago we all were APOE-4 homozygotes, now in the US only 2-3% of us are. The majority (60%) of our population carry 2 copies of the APOE-3 gene variant.
RISK #6: DOWNS SYNDROME
Studies are finding that over 50% of people diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome will develop Alzheimer’s. Though less than 1% of the US population have Down’s, their higher risk warrants a deep dive. One thing we know about Down’s is that Periodontal Disease is more common and much more severe with this specific population. This interesting comorbidity will be further explored in a later blogpost. Stay tuned as we learn more ourselves
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